LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Funny thing is, there was a time when nobody wanted Deron Williams.

Oh, he was a fine player even at 14, an up-and-coming freshman at The Colony High School just outside Dallas, where he already was turning the heads of college coaches, including Bill Self, then at Tulsa.

But in those days, all Williams really wanted was to land on one of his home state''s top AAU teams. And there were no takers.

Honestly, I always thought I was pretty good, but obviously not everybody really shared that opinion, Williams said. About my eighth-grade or freshman year, everybody started to get on the good AAU teams like Team Texas and stuff, and I was having trouble finding anybody to play with.

Now they''re lining up to catch passes from the 6-foot-3 Williams, a rock-solid 205-pound point guard who''s cast his college lot with Illinois, Self''s current employer.

Williams didn''t put on the show he''d hoped Saturday at the Derby Festival ClassicAll-Star game, scoring six points on 1-for-5 shooting.

But Williams, who added seven assists, six turnovers, three steals and a block, displayed some of the skills that had him ranked among the nation''s top senior point guards.

He went strong to the basket, used his shoulders to power past defenders on the perimeter and showed an extra gear in the open court, despite his quiet numbers.

All-Star games really aren''t my thing, when guys are just coming down and shooting, said Williams, who averaged 17 points, eight assists and 6.1 rebounds a game for The Colony this season. I''m better off in a more structured offense. But I had a good time.

Among the 10,911 in attendance at Freedom Hall were Williams'' mother, Denise Smith, and his grandparents, Delford and Janice Smith, who made the drive from West Virginia to watch Williams'' only out-of-state all-star appearance.

If there''s anything to be learned from Saturday''s game – and there rarely is; locals sometimes refer to it as the Erby Festival Classic for its lack of D – it''s that Williams is strong and fast and aggressive going to the basket.

And he''s a polar opposite of his incoming backcourt mate, Proviso East''s Dee Brown.

If Brown is R&B, rhythm-driven but linen-soft, Williams is hip-hop, all pounding beats and rough edges. His shoulders are as important to his game as his eyes and feet. He has a broad, rugged body, and he''s not afraid to use it.

And in that sense, he''s not so unlike the Williams he''ll try to help replace next season.

Me and Frank are both big guards, Deron Williams said. I like to use my body when I get in the lane, just like he does, to kind of ward off defenders. He does a lot of the same things I do.

Not even the most optimistic coach would expect either Brown or Williams to step in for Frank Williams next season without a beat skipping. Self knows there will be growing pains as his two freshmen try to compensate for the loss of a junior who thrived in two seasons under Self.

Those are some big shoes to fill, Deron Williams said. Frank is a great player, and when you''re talking about replacing him with freshmen, then you know that the guys coming in are really going to have to step up.

In hopes of doing just that, Williams has worked on polishing the rough edges in his game. Known more for his pull-up jumper than for long-range marksmanship, Williams has toiled to improve his three-point shot.

This weekend, he advanced to the finals of the Classic''s three-point shooting contest, finishing fourth in Saturday''s finale.

When Self set out to land Williams, though, he wasn''t just looking for a three-point shooter. If he had been, he''d have looked a little further down the roster.

Bracey Wright, Williams'' teammate at The Colony and an Indiana signee, is a more highly regarded gunner from downtown. And Wright caught Self''s attention at the same time Williams did, when both were freshmen at The Colony.

I remember going over there to watch some of the older guys on his team, and everybody was already talking about the Williams kid and the Wright kid, Self said. They''re both good players, but we thought it would be silly of us to try to recruit both of them. Most schools made a decision to recruit one or the other, and we thought all along with his size and his point guard ability that there was no question Deron was a can''t-miss guy.

So Self and his staff put on a full-court press to ensure they didn''t miss Williams.

Illinois assistant Billy Gillispie is a close friend of Tommy Thomas, who coached Williams at The Colony, and Gillispie took charge of Williams'' recruitment early.

By the time other schools caught wind of Williams, the guard already had forged a relationship with Gillispie and Self.

They''ve really been recruiting me since my freshman year of high school, at least sending me letters and stuff, Williams said. I think that helped me make my decision. I was really comfortable with them.

But though Self and Gillispie were sold early, Williams still wasn''t drawing the attention he''d hoped to from area AAU coaches. His freshman year, he played with a team of mostly local players, including fellow Illinois signee Kyle Wilson, who starred at nearby Jesuit Prep.

By his sophomore year, he''d earned a coveted spot on Team Texas.

I don''t think much changed, Williams said. People just started seeing what I could do.

They''ve noticed ever since.

Next season, Williams will take his show to a bigger stage, and he''s counting the moments until they raise the curtain on his Illinois career. He knows the Illini will be young, knows that replacing Frank Williams and Cory Bradford and the rest of Illinois'' departing seniors won''t be easy.

But Williams promised Illinois will be fun to watch and predicted Illinois will shock a lot of people with how good we are.

I think we''re the team to watch out for in the future, Williams said. You build a good program like we have, and then you keep good talent coming in like we''ve got this year, and I think that the sky''s the limit. I think sometime during my four years there, we''re going to win the national championship.

I hope so, at least.